Peter Criss Says Being in Kiss Was Always a ‘Battle’

According to Peter Criss, life in Kiss was, after the first few years, a power struggle, with Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley on one side, and him and Ace Frehley on the other. In a new interview, he discusses that dynamic and how it led to his departure from Kiss.

"I could start feeling [Stanley and Simmons] wanting the power," Criss told the Opie & Anthony Show (via Blabbermouth). "The more we were going up the ladder of future and fame, the more it was kind of swaying to Mr. Simmons and Stanley. Ace and I were kind of not getting our musical [ideas] in. It's funny — I wrote the biggest hit the band [ever had] (which would be the 1976 ballad 'Beth'), and meanwhile, I was kind of always getting put down for this stuff. So it was always a battle."

Criss, whose memoir 'Makeup To Breakup: My Life In And Out Of Kiss" was released this past week, said that he and Frehley were incredibly close, which is why it was so painful for Criss to learn that Frehley was making more money when the Farewell tour ended in 2000.

"[It] broke my heart when [Ace] broke my heart," he continued. "In the book I tell the story, but towards the reunion, towards the end, I was devastated, man. I couldn't believe what went on. And it was again about the old M-O-N-E-Y. Money, money, money. Power, power, power. It never was enough for those guys."